[Shannon]
It’s been six years since Tina’s
support circle premiering
your public finesse
to convene members to speak
candidly their hurts
to work out alien paths
to future days that raise hopes
for us to cope with
inadequacies and shame
from other’s transferred
blame for their deeds that range from
gluttony to enslavement.
[Crystal]
Shannon, I fathom
that you’ve driven this long way
for more than chili
and raspberry-lemon pie.
Why not speak very plainly
What has you worried?
[Shannon]
Mainly Tina’s need for coarse
rogues in vogue for those
female outcasts from polite
society, which grasps strength
merged with gentleness
as marking true manliness,
that’s sparking my fear
causing me to believe I’ve
seen patterns of harsh abuse
and keen usury
in every male dated
since Bartholomew.
I’m scared she’s fated for more
terror and trauma for sure
if she ignores those
contours of the path she chose
when seeking partners
that are needed to alter
her past poverty and her
degradation from
parents, siblings, adults and
peers ostracising,
ridiculing, or at best
ignoring her totally.
[Crystal]
You know Joseph Ward
afforded much resources
and time to aid her
in forging another course
by supporting her frayed nerves
by encouraging
her to swerve around road blocks
like mounting fear from
uncertainty cajoled by
self-doubt nagged from solo flights
in frail, untested
transports to alien lands
with frightful demands.
College can bridge adverse pasts
to better futures that last
if freshmen hold fast
to arduous tasks at hand.
A full scholarship,
to equip Tina to stand
with Community College
freshmen of her choice
to voice her perceptions of
wide world views proposed
and those replies that expose
enclosed inconsistencies
as well as learning
the hard, indisputable
facts that densely pack
each professional career,
was offered as reward for
extraordinary
forward movement after she
transferred to a more
suitable student centered
educational setting
more capable of
offsetting exposure to
trauma and terror
that does not favor learning.
With Joseph’s prompting, she flew
[Shannon]
to overdue new
possibilities opened
from graduating
with honors to receive her
grand Associates Degree
that set her free to
choose to use her investment
for the betterment
of her previous status.
[Crystal]
She enrolled in Nursing School?
[Shannon]
She certainly did.
I believe Joseph hid in
the background always.
[Crystal]
We should visit Joseph Ward
and look forward to his thoughts.
[Joseph Ward]
Shannon and Crystal,
two wonderful companions
to grace my dull space
this fine day, I dare to say,
you’ll stay awhile for some tea
and stimulating
conversation relating
to the impetus
of the coming discussion.
[Shannon]
What a stiff, formal greeting.
“Hello, how are you?”
would do fine for chance meetings.
[Joseph Ward]
So, you driving here
is sheer coincidence or
just an unplanned occurrence?
[Crystal]
No, we want to talk
with you about Tina’s sense
of companionship.
[Joseph Ward]
Let’s slip into the kitchen.
I’ll make tea and you can see
what I’ve just received
from whom I’ve yet to perceive.
It’s a strange gift that
lifts my curiosity
to know who penned this unsigned
benign manuscript.
[Crystal]
Did you read it? Is it long?
[Joseph Ward]
Three strange parables
of the first section, Air, are
short but beckon more rereads.
Three lengthy poems
constitute the juicy fruit
of the next section.
But we have time to reckon
with the beacon of insight
that lays tight within
this firm creative word play.
Today is Tina’s.
[Shannon]
Once she graduated cum
laude for her B S N
she then gained offers
for employment to cement
greater resources
for Christopher, her young son,
and herself to fund her new
independent life,
but single motherhood stood
to muddle matters.
[Crystal]
But that’s not what concerns us
more than when her focus turns
to male partnership
that won’t benefit her child
nor her needed help.
[Joseph Ward]
The relationship I have
with Tina can slip into
precarious states
that one must evaluate
very carefully.